


A night at the opera

by DoctorBilly



Series: Tales from the Billyverse [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Billyverse, DimLock, Grand opera, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 03:22:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1967115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorBilly/pseuds/DoctorBilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock invites Dimmock to the opera</p><p>A little peripheral tale. Set around the time of  <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2112651/chapters/4608687"> Only Forward </a></p>
            </blockquote>





	A night at the opera

Rodolfo is singing

"Che gelida manina…"

Sherlock scoffs.

"Your tiny hand is frozen… Oh please. These surtitles…"

"It's romantic."

Dimmock whispers. He is enjoying the performance. Sherlock snorts.

"Back shortly."

He gets up and pushes through the audience, quickly disappearing from sight.

Dimmock sighs and settles down to listen to Mimi take ten minutes to tell Rodolfo her name.

Sherlock is gone for almost the whole of the second act. The people on the bench seat where Dimmock is sitting shuffle about, spreading out a bit to take up Sherlock's space.

Dimmock is beginning to resign himself to the familiar feeling of being dumped when Sherlock reappears through the crowd, carrying a small wicker basket, which he places at Dimmock's feet.

There is no space for him to sit beside Dimmock, so he climbs up behind him, sitting on the back of the bench, legs spread, feet forced between Dimmock and the people on either side of him. Dimmock finds himself in the unusual, and slightly disconcerting position of having his head in Sherlock's lap in public.

"Don't fidget, Theo."

Dimmock wouldn't dare.

Act Two of 'La Boheme' is mercifully short, and soon, the people around them start to move. Dimmock takes the opportunity to stand up and stretch his legs and spine. The bench he has been sitting on is hard.

Sherlock slides down and takes his seat.

"What's in the basket?"

Sherlock grins.

"Dinner."

He opens the hamper and pulls out a takeaway pizza, a bottle of prosecco and two glasses.

"Luckily, Waitrose was still open. Otherwise we'd have been drinking coca cola out of cans."

"You went to Waitrose?"

"I needed glasses, and something to carry them in."

"You went to Waitrose for an empty picnic basket and some glasses? You didn't buy the wine there…"

"Of course not. Supermarket wine? Please, Theo, credit me with some taste."

"And you didn't get the pizza from Dominos, did you?"

"Angelo has a friend with a restaurant near here…"

Dimmock laughs.

"When you suggested going to the opera, I expected red velvet seats, baroque cherubs…"

"And I've given you an open air live screening at Canary Wharf. With takeaway pizza…"

"This is better. More relaxed. Nice cool breeze."

The pizza is good. The prosecco is excellent, and Sherlock behaves himself, pretty much, during the remaining two acts of the opera.

By the end of Act Four, as Mimi is dying, he notices Dimmock sniffing a bit.

"Are you all right, Theo?"

"Yeah. It's just so…tragic…"

"Yes. It is. The director would refer to this as a "handbag moment."

"What?"

"A moment when all the ladies in the audience open their handbags to get their handkerchiefs out."

Dimmock giggles

"That's so cynical…"

"It's a cliché. The dying heroine…"

"Don't spoil it."

"Sorry. The next live screening is going to be 'Rigoletto'. That's even more tragic. Would you like to go to that with me?"

"Yeah. I've had fun tonight, Sherlock."

"The night is not over yet, Theo…"

"Oh…?"

"Mm. Your place is nearer than mine…"

"Oh…"

**Author's Note:**

> My Dimmock's first name is Theodore. 
> 
> The Royal Opera House free live-screenings are well established. I went to see 'La Boheme' at my local outdoor screen and was inspired to write this little fic.


End file.
